"Hahaha, this old body of mine should probably pass."
Wu Hui Li'ang laughed as he waved his hand.
"It's already late today, and you've come a long way, young friend Lu. My clan cannot afford to be discourteous. How about we eat and rest first, and tomorrow I'll arrange for experts to spar with you?"
"Then I'll gladly accept. Just so you know in advance—I eat quite a lot."
Kurosaki Rei replied with a smile. He also understood that things should be done step by step. He hadn't come to the Wu Clan to challenge them outright, but to learn techniques, so naturally he had to give the clan head his due respect.
Moreover, although the Wu Clan was an assassin family, they had principles and respected strength. He had defeated Wu Raian head-on; there was no way they would resort to underhanded methods against him.
Poisoning the food was unlikely—though letting him experience some assassination techniques was another matter.
"There's still some time before dinner. I have clan matters to attend to, so I won't accompany you, young friend Rei…"
Wu Hui Li'ang looked around the crowd, then his gaze settled on Wu Fengshui.
"Fengshui, take young friend Rei around the clan grounds for now. Remember—he is a distinguished guest of our clan. Don't let anyone disturb him."
Wu Fengshui nodded. She was still shaken—she had honestly thought her idiot brother was about to be beaten to death earlier.
With the fight over and the clan head having spoken, the surrounding members quickly dispersed. Before long, only Kurosaki Rei and Wu Fengshui remained.
"Let's go, Mr. Rei. I'll show you around. Our clan grounds are quite large."
Wu Fengshui led the way.
"They really are. Assassination really must be a lucrative line of work…"
Kurosaki Rei sighed with emotion. The Wu Clan didn't just control a city—their core clan grounds were massive as well, filled with traditional Japanese buildings constructed from top-grade materials.
Besides indoor dojos, there were many outdoor training grounds too. Even with the sun beginning to set, plenty of figures could still be seen sparring.
"That's not exactly it… we just have partnerships with many companies…"
Wu Fengshui hesitated, then spoke up.
"Um… thank you."
Kurosaki Rei was briefly puzzled, then understood.
"Oh, no need to thank me. I said I wasn't here to kill anyone. Even if you hadn't shouted, I wouldn't have continued."
In truth, even if he had killed Raian during that fight, judging by the Wu Clan's way of doing things, they probably wouldn't have done much to him. It had been a fair spar, and he had already held back several times.
More importantly, he had come to the Wu Clan to learn the secret technique Release. If he killed their top genius, learning anything would definitely be off the table.
As he pondered how to bring up a "martial exchange" during dinner, Kurosaki Rei suddenly sensed something.
So soon I get to experience assassination techniques? Interesting.
He abruptly twisted his body, dodging an attack from behind, then reached out with one hand and precisely grabbed the throat of the figure who had lunged at him from the darkness.
As his hand closed, he instinctively applied force—but the soft, warm sensation was not what he had expected. He froze for a moment.
In that instant of hesitation, long bandage-wrapped legs coiled up from both sides, locking around Kurosaki Rei's neck. At the same time, the attacker stretched both hands forward, clutching Kurosaki Rei's clothes at the chest and struggling to pull closer.
By the light of the setting sun, Kurosaki Rei finally saw clearly—
A girl of sixteen or seventeen, still wearing a sailor-style school uniform. She had long dark-purple hair, a pretty face, and in her black eyes, white pupils shone with excited light.
"I want to have your children!"
The girl declared.
Kurosaki Rei: ???
Pure instinct kicked in—his grip tightened further, and the girl's face flushed red.
"Mr. Rei—don't!"
Wu Fengshui shouted in alarm.
"She's the clan head's great-granddaughter!"
Bang—
Kurosaki Rei didn't continue applying force to snap the girl's fragile neck. Instead, he flung her away, smashing her into the wooden corridor wall.
Garou—who had just brushed past death—showed no fear at all. She coughed twice, stood up, brushed off Wu Fengshui's attempt to help her, and looked at Kurosaki Rei with unabated excitement.
"Great-grandfather once said that giving birth to powerful children is the main house's mission."
Her gaze roamed over Kurosaki Rei.
"Kurosaki Rei, you're strong. I'm Garou. Be my husband!"
Kurosaki Rei's brain half-crashed. It took him two full seconds to recover from the shock.
He knew who Garou was—Wu Hui Li'ang's great-granddaughter, and a rare genius of the Wu Clan. At such a young age, she could already Release 85% of her potential.
This high school girl had a very unusual way of thinking, seemingly obsessed with bearing children for the strong. In the original story, she had also fallen for the "protagonist" Tokita Ohma at first sight and chased him relentlessly.
Misstep…
Kurosaki Rei had forgotten it was summer vacation. Garou studying in Tokyo and returning home was perfectly normal. And he had just demonstrated overwhelming strength in front of her by crushing Raian…
With his left hand, Kurosaki Rei rubbed his brow. With his right, he stretched out his arm in a clear "stop" gesture.
"Wait—don't come any closer!"
He had absolutely no desire to get involved with an underage girl in a mission world. From every angle, that would be disastrous.
Women only slowed down the speed at which he drew his blade!
After thinking for a moment, Kurosaki Rei dropped his hand and released his aura and killing intent without restraint.
"Don't come near me. Next time, it won't just be smashing into a wall."
He felt that scaring the girl a little should make her back off.
But Garou made him realize another problem—
If he wanted to trade with the Wu Clan, would they make some excessive demands?
The Wu Clan was famously fond of marrying into strength and borrowing seed to optimize their bloodline.
Thinking carefully… a young, powerful martial artist like him in this place really did seem to be in danger of losing his chastity.
"Kurosaki Rei, let's make babies!"
Garou suddenly shouted. Her clothes flew upward into the air, revealing her still-immature yet well-proportioned body as she leapt toward Kurosaki Rei.
Bang—
The next moment, Garou felt the world spin. She was smashed upside-down into the wall once again.
Kurosaki Rei stared at her with a headache, then looked at Wu Fengshui.
"How exactly does your Wu Clan educate its children?"
Wu Fengshui looked awkward as she went over to help Garou up.
"Garou, the clan head said you're not allowed to harass Mr. Rei. Calm down."
"Harass? I didn't harass him," Garou said innocently.
"I just want to have his children."
Even Wu Fengshui found it hard to respond.
The Wu Clan really did have such traditions. To be honest, Wu Fengshui could guess the clan head's thoughts—someone as strong as Kurosaki Rei naturally had to be "entertained" properly.
A man who could defeat Raian had come. If they didn't leave behind some seed, it would be such a waste.
Wu Fengshui even briefly wondered—since she was the one assigned to accompany Kurosaki Rei, should the "evening hospitality" be her responsibility?
But she hadn't expected Garou to charge in so brazenly, confessing so directly.
The situation was bad in every sense. First, Kurosaki Rei clearly detested Garou's "sexual harassment." Second, if this matter reached the clan head's ears, it would probably cause another upheaval.
Wu Hui Li'ang was famously doting on his great-granddaughter. Everyone in the Wu Clan knew this. If he learned that his precious great-granddaughter wanted to have children with Kurosaki Rei, he might explode on the spot.
"Miss Fengshui, I'm a bit hungry. Can we go eat first?"
Kurosaki Rei changed the subject.
He hadn't practiced any kind of celibacy technique, but from childhood he had immersed himself in martial arts. Later, he became consumed with avenging his master and senior sister, so his private life had always been quite disciplined.
His master had once told him that in an age ruled by corporations, relationships outside were chaotic—an amplification of humanity's beastly instincts. Martial artists had to control their desires, or they would eventually degenerate into beasts themselves.
That didn't mean they couldn't enjoy romance and intimacy—only that they had to treat such matters seriously, not recklessly.
So Kurosaki Rei had always been self-disciplined.
The road ahead was long. With the martial path as his companion, that was enough—at least, that was what he believed for now.
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